Let us journey: carpe diem because c'est la vie.

The Office Job that Changed the World

My job is unlike any that I had ever imagined. It wasn’t on a list, given to me by a career counselor. It wasn’t searchable on Google. I didn’t find it through a job fair.

It has been one year since I started working for Adventures in Missions. Hands down, this has been the most ridiculous year – one I did not see coming, one for the record books, one with stories to tell. (Like the one about how I fell in love – more on that later).

One year down, here I sit at my desk, with a phone and my own extension, an Adventures email address, an additional monitor. My wall is littered with post-it notes and pictures and information about Central America.

I cannot give you a breakdown of my “typical” day, because there really isn’t one. There hasn’t been one in the past year.

What I have had the privilege to be a part of, however, has been beyond my expectation.

2013 blew me away.

I’ve been on staff for three World Race launches, and three training camps. I’ve seen hundreds of young adults walking out a process of abandonment, brokenness, and dependence on the Lord. I have prayed with participants.I’ve worshipped with them.

Lives have been changed.
And I’ve had a role in helping make it happen.

I have befriended many of them, have “friended” more than I can count, and stalked their blogs.
I’ve had the chance to speak to dozens of ministries and missionaries in Central America about the World Race. I have had my hand in more things than I can count or remember.

Sometimes, I forget what my job helps to accomplish. I forget the part I play, because I get caught up in the emails and the to-do lists and the details of organizing debriefs and travel days and other such things.

To be honest, there’s a lot to do. Always.

And yes, it needs to be done. But I don’t do it just to do it.
I don’t do it for money, or prestige or accolades.

The truth is – There are miraculous things happening. I want to be a part of something bigger than myself. God asked me to be here, to do this, so here I am.

I wouldn’t be here without you – the people that support me.
And I cannot thank you enough for that.

The incredible moments happen when I pause, when I take a breath, when I stop for a second. When I lift my head above the clouds and ignore the daily grind, I remember the beautiful and the glorious and the holy aspects of my job.

I’ve watched as a participant experiences freedom, or encounters the Holy Spirit. I have had conversations with hosts and realized that we have the same heart, the same vision, and are made of the same stuff – Kingdom.

Recently, I had the chance to touch base with a missionary in Panama. She and her husband hosted a World Race team in November; it was the first time they’ve worked with Adventures in Missions.

Both she and the team had a great month and felt like it was a beneficial time for the ministry.

What struck me was not that it was a good month – because a lot of them are – but what she said at the end.

I’m changing the world, on a tiny scale. God’s using me, he’s answering prayers. It’s crazy that I can be used like this.

And overwhelmingly, she was thankful that she could make a difference, in her tiny corner of the world, and that our teams could help make that happen.

I couldn’t have been more grateful for her words.

It took me a moment to realize, because that day I was lost in my to do list, but –I’m doing the same thing. And I’m overwhelmingly thankful that I can make a difference, at my desk, in my tiny part of the world. That God can use me to coordinate huge things.

It’s no trivial matter that we have 13 squads (approximately 600 participants) scattered across the globe. For me, the World Race is over; I’m not there anymore, I’m not on the field.

Yet, from my computer, from my desk, I get to be a part of the Kingdom and watch as Jesus shows up throughout the world. I work in an office, but it’s anything but boring.